Rules
Algerian Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use two standard decks, for 104 cards total.
- Deal 12 cards into eight tableau depots: two cards on each of the first four, one on each of the last four.
- Deal six reserve piles of four cards each, with only the top card of each pile exposed for play.
- Four foundations build upward by suit from ace to king.
- Four foundations build downward by suit from king to ace.
- Only exposed top cards from reserve and tableau piles may move.
- Cards move singly; sequences cannot move as packets.
- Tableau depots build one rank up or down in the same suit.
- Tableau building wraps between king and ace.
- Deal two stock cards to each reserve pile until eight cards remain.
- The final stock deal places one card on each tableau depot.
- Win by moving every card to the foundations.
How to play
How to play Algerian Solitaire
Algerian Solitaire is a two-deck patience game built around exposed cards, reserve pressure, and two opposite foundation directions. Your aim is to move all 104 cards to eight suit foundations. For each suit, one foundation climbs from ace to king while the other descends from king to ace.
At the start, the first four tableau depots receive two cards each and the last four receive one card each. Six reserve piles also receive four cards, but only the top card of each reserve pile is exposed for play. On a turn, move the top card of a reserve pile or a tableau depot to a foundation or to a tableau depot. After the stock is empty, an empty reserve pile may also be filled with any exposed card.
Setup
The layout on this page
This implementation uses six reserve piles, eight tableau depots, eight foundations, and one stock. The tableau starts with 12 cards, the reserve starts with 24 cards, and the remaining 68 cards stay in the stock. Five stock deals place two cards on each reserve pile, leaving exactly eight cards for the final tableau deal.
The foundations are empty targets at first. The upward foundations need aces, and the downward foundations need kings. Once a foundation has started, it must continue in suit and in its assigned direction.
Version
Which Algerian rule version is this?
Older Algerian descriptions do not all handle the foundation starts in the same way. Some pre-place one ace and one king of each suit before the reserve is dealt. Other accounts found those cards during play. This page uses the founded-as-they-appear version.
That choice is stated because it changes the opening. You begin with no foundation cards placed, but the deal still leaves a clean stock cycle: 68 cards remain after the tableau and reserve are dealt, five deals place two cards on each reserve pile, and the last eight cards land on the tableau depots.
Moves
Legal and illegal Algerian Solitaire moves
Tableau building is unusually flexible but still strict about suit. A 9 of hearts can be placed on the 8 or 10 of hearts. It cannot be placed on the 8 of diamonds, and it cannot skip to the 7 of hearts. The direction can reverse whenever a legal same-suit neighbor is available.
Only one card moves at a time. If a tableau depot shows 10-9-8 of clubs, you may move the top 8 if it has a destination, but you cannot lift the whole run. This single-card rule is what turns Algerian from a generous-looking layout into a careful planning game.
FoundationAce of hearts starts the upward heart foundation
FoundationQueen of clubs onto the downward king foundation
Tableau9 of spades onto 10 of spades
Tableau10 of spades onto 9 of spades
WrapKing of diamonds onto ace of diamonds in the tableau
IllegalMoving a built sequence as a group
Foundations
How the ace-up and king-down foundations work
The left side of the foundation area is for ace-up building: ace, 2, 3, and onward to king. The right side is for king-down building: king, queen, jack, and downward to ace. Each suit has one foundation in each direction.
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When the two foundations of the same suit approach each other, their top cards may sometimes be transferred between foundations if the move follows the target foundation direction. That small rule can save a deal when one side of a suit has advanced too quickly.
Stock
How the stock deals work
The stock does not turn one card to a waste pile. Instead, each normal deal adds two cards to every reserve pile. Because only top reserve cards are available, dealing can create new chances while also burying cards you may still need.
When eight cards remain, the final deal changes shape. One card goes to each tableau depot. After that, the stock is empty and any empty reserve pile may be used as an extra holding space.
Reserve
Why the reserve is not a tableau
Reserve piles are supply piles, not building piles. You may play their top cards away, but you cannot build onto a non-empty reserve pile. That means an important reserve card can be visible and still hard to reach if the cards above it are not useful yet.
Once the stock is exhausted, empty reserve spaces become valuable. They are not a license to rearrange everything, but they can hold one exposed card while you uncover another top card or balance the two foundations of a suit.
Strategy
Algerian Solitaire strategy that actually helps
Begin by looking for foundation starters: aces for the upward side and kings for the downward side. Starting a foundation creates a permanent destination for that suit, but do not push one side blindly. If the upward heart foundation races to 8 while the downward heart foundation has barely started, middle hearts may lose useful landing places.
Use tableau depots as connectors. Because they build both directions by suit, a tableau depot can temporarily hold a 7 between the 6 and 8 of the same suit, or reverse direction when a better card appears. The best tableau moves expose a reserve card, create a new foundation play, or preserve a flexible same-suit chain.
Deal slowly. A stock deal adds twelve cards to the reserve, which is a lot of new material and a lot of new covering. Before dealing, check every exposed card for foundation moves, tableau connections, and empty-depot opportunities. Algerian rewards patience in the plain sense of the word.
Mistakes
Common Algerian Solitaire mistakes
- Dealing from the stock before using the current exposed reserve cards.
- Forgetting that tableau building is by suit, not by color.
- Missing king-ace wraparound moves in the tableau.
- Filling every empty tableau depot with cards that do not unlock anything.
- Advancing one foundation direction so far that the opposite side has no support.
- Trying to move a sequence instead of moving only the top card.
Winnability
Is Algerian Solitaire winnable?
Algerian Solitaire is not always winnable from a random shuffle. It uses two decks and shows many cards, but visible information does not remove the difficulty. Cards in the reserve can be repeatedly covered, tableau movement is single-card only, and the two foundation directions must meet cleanly.
This page does not claim a win-rate percentage. A real number would need to be measured against this exact implementation, including the founded-as-they-appear starts and the rule that empty reserve spaces open only after the stock is exhausted.
Variants
Algerian Solitaire variants and nearby rules
The main Algerian rule difference is whether the ace and king foundations are laid out at the beginning or founded during play. Pre-placing them gives immediate foundation progress and a different stock count. Founding them as they appear makes the opening more uncertain and keeps the stock cycle used on this page.
Some players also make the empty reserve rule stricter by never allowing reserve spaces to be refilled. This site uses the friendlier but still traditional option: reserve spaces may be filled only after the stock has run out. It adds late-game maneuvering without turning the reserve into a normal tableau.
Nearby games
How Algerian compares with Forty Thieves, Canfield, and Spider
Algerian and Forty Thieves are both two-deck, one-card-at-a-time games with eight foundations. Forty Thieves is stricter in the tableau because it builds only downward by suit, while Algerian lets tableau depots build either direction and wrap between king and ace. Algerian gives more local flexibility, but its reserve deal can bury cards again and again.
Canfield is shorter and sharper, with one reserve and a changing foundation base. Spider is also a two-deck game, but it is about forming descending runs in the tableau instead of feeding opposite foundations. If you enjoy Algerian, Forty Thieves is the closest test of similar discipline, while Spider is the better choice when you want long visible sequences.